Scotland vs Albania Predictions

Scotland manager Alex McLeish takes charge of his first competitive international match in the Nations League against Albania, however, with his side in dismal form, it well could be a very tough match.

His side have only won once in five games under his leadership, a 1-0 away win at Hungary, with defeats to teams like Costa Rica and Peru, countries that Scotland simply have to perform better against. Whilst all were friendlies and McLeish needs time to assess the national talent pool, now is surely the time for the team to step up.

However, Friday night’s showing against Belgium, where they were thrashed 4-0 at a half-empty Hampden was certainly not the warm-up McLeish needed. His team made error after error, with two of the goals coming directly from defensive mistakes. They looked second-best throughout the match and questions surely have to be asked as to why a friendly against one of the strongest teams in the world was chosen before such a crucial match.

Although, there is strength within the squad, in particular the left-back position, where Keiran Tierney and newly-appointed captain Andy Robertson can be described as top-class players. In addition, midfielder John McGinn has made a great start to his Aston Villa career, whilst experienced players like Ryan Fraser are Premier League quality. If McLeish can find a way for these players to excel, results should eventually come.

Scotland’s opponents Albania are 24 places below them in the FIFA World Rankings, and have also had fluctuations with recent form.

In the past few months, they have been well beaten in friendlies by Kosovo and Ukraine, dismissed 3-0 and 4-1 respectively. On the other hand, they have also managed to beat teams such as Turkey and have held Italy to a 1-0 loss, a decent result considering the huge gulf in class between the two teams.

For their first Nations League game they narrowly beat Israel 1-0, with the winner scored by Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka’s brother Taulant, who plays for Swiss side Basel domestically. Indeed, the team do have quality within them, with players from Serie A sides Atlanta, Napoli and Lazio, which suggests not only will it be a very tough game for Scotland but that Albania are strong enough to succeed at the Nations League and build on their Euro 2016 appearance.

Albania are the type of team to frustrate the opponent and take their chances on the counter, the type of game McLeish will not be wanting in front of an already frustrated home crowd. Indeed, whilst we think Scotland have the quality to score, their defence has not been properly sorted out yet and it is likely Albania can score as well, meaning a Both Teams to Score bet looks good here.

In terms of a correct result, Scotland don’t look to be confident or ready yet to pull off a convincing victory of any sort, so a 1-1 draw looks apt, a result that Albania will be happy to take back with them but one which will only raise more questions for Scotland.